Vancouver Sikh community holds first Vaisakhi event since 2019 in scaled-down form

After a two-year  COVID-19 hiatus, one of the Vancouver Sikh community’s most important events returned Saturday, albeit in a scaled-down form.

The annual Vaisakhi festival and parade usually spans dozens of blocks in southeast Vancouver, drawing thousands of people. There are dozens of free food vendors serving Indian dishes, colourful parade floats, musicians and dancers.

Vancouver Khalsa Diwan Society President Malkip Singh Dhami said the massive event takes four to five months to plan, something that was impossible to do amid the uncertainty of the fifth wave of the pandemic.

“The city was reluctant to give us the permission, so finally we agreed to scale it down and do it in the (Ross Street temple) compound of the Khalsa Diwan Society,” he said.

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Organizers set up multiple booths outside the temple and planned a smaller parade within the grounds.

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Vaisakhi is one of the most important days on the Sikh calendar, marking the formation of the Khalsa in 1699, and is also culturally significant as a spring harvest festival and the beginning of the Punjabi new year.

“It’s a big occasion for us,” Taranpreet Kaur told Global News as she entered the temple grounds with friends on Saturday.

“After two years, smiling faces, people getting ready without masks, it’s been good,” she added. “They are trying their best to maintain the health and safety procedures and still celebrating our festival. It’ still better than not having a parade.”

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Vancouver’s annual event, and the even larger one traditionally held the following week, are viewed as the world’s largest Vaisakhi celebration outside of India.

Surrey’s drew more than 500,000 people in 2019, but was scrapped this year due to what organizers described as “constantly changing” COVID-19 restrictions.

Back in Vancouver, Dhami said even with the smaller event planned, the excitement was palpable.

“Tremendous response, because after two years of absence, no function has been held,” he said. “Next year, if everything goes well, we will have the full-scale parade again.”